Where to hold your international marketing event in 2014.

EMEA Cost-Per-Delegate Benchmarking Report

OUTSOURCED EVENTS Which location offers the best value for your marketing event?

Welcome to Outsourced Events’ first EMEA cost-per-delegate benchmarking report. We’ve used our contacts and experience of international events to investigate

173 venues at 23 locations in 23 countries spanning Europe, the Middle East and Africa...

...and give you a straightforward cost-per-head comparison, based on a simple, one-day marketing event.

We hope you’ll find it a useful tool, at a time when we’re seeing marketers in EMEA increasingly opt for a series of intimate, local events over a big, single splash.

Organisations are noticeably starting to invest in event marketing once again, to regain the business benefits that only face-to-face relationships can provide – a fact supported in the latest Bellwether Report.

But increasing budgets doesn’t mean there’s money to waste. In the following pages, you’ll find our insights into selecting the perfect location for your 2014 event, at the right price.

If you have any comments, or if you’d like any help, please feel free to call.

Yours

Denise Sharpe

Managing Director Outsourced Events Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 9495 Email: [email protected] In this report:

How to choose the right location page 2

What’s included in the price page 3

How to get a better deal page 4

At a glance: where to hold your 2014 event (infographic) page 5

The five cheapest v the five most expensive page 6

The cost comparison: results in full page 7

Where to go? Our picks for 2014 page 8

Other locations of note page 8

About Outsourced Events page 9

OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 1 ©EVENTS How to choose the right location

Before we get to the numbers, it’s important to point out there’s much more to choosing a location than price alone. The cheapest venue might not be the one that offers the best value for your particular event, if the experience for your delegates isn’t right, or the logistical arrangements don’t fit your needs.

From our experience, we’ve compiled nine quick tips. When you’re looking at the results, it might help to bear them in mind:

● The ease of booking flights can be crucial. Established business hubs tend to be more expensive, but they’re also easy to get to. (To help, we’ve included a column in the benchmarking results, giving a broad banding for the number of direct flights.) ● In certain locations, having a local representative on the ground can help to secure better costs and overcome cultural issues – most notably in , Russia, Nigeria and South Africa. ● Allow for substantially higher build and AV costs in the Middle East, compared with Europe. ● There is a different working week in Middle Eastern countries; the weekend is Friday and Saturday. ● Venues in the Middle East and Africa can be very busy. There may be an expectation that you will build overnight before your event. ● The local culture in Saudi Arabia requires special arrangements for women: seating is segregated by gender, and an abaya with black head scarf must be worn. ● In less well-established locations, like Nigeria, allow some extra room in the budget for incidental costs like local taxes, generators and fire retardant tests. ● Some merchandise can take months to clear customs in Africa and the Middle East so either plan well ahead or use a local agent and buy locally. ● In some locations – such as Dubai, Doha and – your delegates will expect valet parking, so these costs need to be factored into your plan.

2 Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. OUTSOURCED ©EVENTS What’s included in the price

To help you compare like with like, we’ve based the benchmark report around room hire and catering costs for a simple, standard event: a one-day conference one plenary room with two coffee breaks and a standing buffet lunch.

We’ve also benchmarked each location across a range of event sizes: 50, 200, 500 and 1,000, including additional breakout facilities to match:

50 & 200 delegates: 1 breakout room 500 delegates: 2 breakout rooms 1,000 delegates: 3 breakout rooms.

The prices were collected between August and October 2013, and have all been converted into US Dollars.

And what’s not included

Don’t forget: the report covers catering and room hire for the event day only. That means it excludes the likes of:

● construction of booths or exhibition stands ● room hire for a set up day ● AV costs ● signage ● accommodation ● travel

OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 3 ©EVENTS How to get a better deal

The benchmark report prices have not been negotiated.

The Middle East and Africa in particular have a culture of bartering so expect to negotiate hard; but in Europe there is also room for manoeuvre. In any case, never take the first offer.

To achieve further savings, consider the time of year and day of the week. For example, choosing a Monday in July, August or January will usually bring you a really good deal.

Having a local representative on the ground can really help – and (without wishing to blow our own trumpet) an experienced events agency with contacts and combined buying power from its clients can often more than pay for itself in discounts.

4 Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. OUTSOURCED ©EVENTS At a glance: where to hold your 2014 event

FLOWESTive Lowest Cost Locations Warsaw Jo’burg Lagos Helsinki Brussels

Stockholm

Amsterdam

Brussels Helsinki Oslo

Moscow Frankfurt Warsaw

Paris Vienna Munich

Madrid Istanbul Milan

Rome Zurich Doha

Riyadh Dubai

Lagos

Ease of access

Cost of location

Johannesburg

London Oslo Zurich Doha Paris EXPENSIVE Five Most Expensive Locations

OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 5 ©EVENTS The five cheapest VS the five most expensive

Event Event Event Event Average size: Up size: Up size: Up size: Up across all Ease of to 50 to 200 to 500 to 1000 sizes travel City (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD)

✈ Warsaw 51 66 39 40 49 ✈ ✈ ✈ Johannesburg 73 54 48 62 60 ✈ Lagos 114 108 87 61 92 ✈ Helsinki 111 116 84 92 101 ✈ Brussels 124 94 113 98 107

Event Event Event Event Average size: Up size: Up size: Up size: Up across all Ease of to 50 to 200 to 500 to 1000 sizes travel City (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD)

✈ ✈ ✈ Paris 235 208 181 162 196 ✈ Doha 293 193 124 102 178 ✈ ✈ Zurich 215 205 174 102 174 ✈ Oslo 176 158 159 129 156 ✈ ✈ ✈ London 168 155 137 146 151

As you can see, it’s not always necessary to go far from the beaten track to get a great deal – several of our cheapest locations also have good transport links.

Don’t forget, though: the established centres of business are popular for a reason. The most expensive options tend to be easy to reach, with great facilities and the cachet of a desirable location.

6 Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. OUTSOURCED ©EVENTS The cost comparison: results in full

Event Event Event Event Average size: Up size: Up size: Up size: Up across all Ease of to 50 to 200 to 500 to 1000 sizes travel City (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD) (USD)

✈ Warsaw 51 66 39 40 49 ✈ ✈ ✈ Johannesburg 73 54 48 62 60 ✈ Lagos 114 108 87 61 92 ✈ Helsinki 111 116 84 92 101 ✈ Brussels 124 94 113 98 107 ✈ ✈ Milan 145 112 79 97 108 ✈ ✈ Vienna 157 114 76 89 109 ✈ ✈ ✈ Dubai 147 120 92 82 110 ✈ ✈ Stockholm 154 109 97 82 111 ✈ Riyadh 157 114 98 80 112 ✈ ✈ Rome 127 110 128 103 117 ✈ ✈ Munich 132 112 107 120 118 ✈ ✈ ✈ Frankfurt 135 104 121 112 118 ✈ ✈ ✈ 150 156 114 106 131 ✈ ✈ Madrid 202 134 113 110 140 ✈ ✈ Istanbul 127 215 115 105 140 ✈ ✈ ✈ Moscow 160 112 149 165 146 ✈ ✈ ✈ London 168 155 137 146 151 ✈ Oslo 176 158 159 129 156 ✈ ✈ Zurich 215 205 174 102 174 ✈ Doha 293 193 124 102 178 ✈ ✈ ✈ Paris 235 208 181 162 196

OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 7 ©EVENTS Where to go? Our picks for 2014.

Every event has slightly different requirements. But based on this year’s benchmarking figures, we’ve picked our five strongest contenders:

Best buy – tight budget: Warsaw, Poland A thriving European capital with plenty of quality venues from exhibition halls to boutique hotels. Direct flight access is good because of its status as a capital city and it’s one of the fastest growing MICE destinations in Central-Eastern Europe.

Best buy – prestige location: Rome, Italy Rome will impress delegates without being overly expensive. Elegant and steeped in history, it’s a unique location with plenty of venues, hotels and activities. Again, as a capital city, flight access is good.

Best buy – ease of travel: Frankfurt, Germany One of EMEA’s business hubs, Frankfurt has everything you need for a successful event. Whilst Dubai, also a business hub, comes in at a lower cost per head for room hire and catering, there are more incidental costs.

Best buy – new and unusual: Stockholm, Sweden A compact yet cosmopolitan city with good flight connections and an efficient transport system. It delivers value for money and great green credentials with amazing scenery and fantastic venues.

Best buy – all round: Amsterdam, The Netherlands Some of the best flight connections on the continent as its geographically central and a really good transport infrastructure. It is among the more prestige locations, but the hospitality and customer service offered coupled with the quality of venues makes for a great event.

8 Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. OUTSOURCED ©EVENTS Other locations of note

This report is by no means exhaustive and we felt we had to mention some other notable locations.

Tallinn, Estonia: Known as e-Estonia, this capital has seen an influx of high tech companies. Beautiful and relatively unknown, with an excellent technical infrastructure and great venues.

Lyon, France: Good alternative to Paris where you can get more for your money. Transport links are good with lots of international connections. Geographically central if running a local event and it’s serviced by the Eurostar and the TGV.

Tel Aviv, Israel: The country’s financial centre, located on the Mediterranean coast. Unusual and exotic location.

OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 9 ©EVENTS Outsourced Events

We hope you’ve found this inaugural report useful.

Here at Outsourced Events, we handle event communications and management for companies in the technology and professional services sectors – so we know a trick or two.

Our strong, loyal team integrates seamlessly with your own people and resources – delivering your experience using our experience (our in-house technology, contacts and value-added communications help, too).

We treat every business relationship as a partnership delivering our clients’ events in the same way as we run our business: with professionalism, efficiency, integrity and friendliness.

So if you’d like a little help, please get in touch.

Outsourced Events Ltd Barley Mow Centre 10 Barley Mow Passage Chiswick London W4 4PH Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 9495 Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Please note that the contents of this report are based on an average cost per head figure taken from real quotes supplied by venues in the regions. Prices were valid at the time of going to print. Whilst every endeavour has been made to ensure that these costs per head are a fair representation of the facts, Outsourced Events Ltd cannot be held responsible for any subsequent changes or the quotes that we received becoming inaccurate.

10 Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. OUTSOURCED ©EVENTS OUTSOURCED Outsourced Events Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 4243766. The VAT number of the company is 783 0771 13. 11 ©EVENTS OUTSOURCED EVENTS